Holden Concept Racer Has Four Electric Motors and 1,341 Hp

A creation entirely of Holden’s design, the car is appropriately Australian. The team designed it as a kind of tribute to Holden’s first win at Bathurst in 1968. According to the company, it “has” four electric motors (one for each wheel) each producing 335 hp (that’s 1,341 hp in all!) and 2,389 lb-ft of torque.

In Holden’s imagination, that means a 1.25 second 0-60 time and a top speed of 298 mph. Why not?

Holden also says it could do a lap of the Mount Panorama circuit in 1:29.30. For reference, the current lap record, held by a McLaren 650S GT3 race car, a car noted for its lack of slowness, is 2:01.56. Why make up a slow time, I guess.

They also say some stuff about how its chassis would be made of a carbon composite cellulose honeycomb (an appropriately buzzy word) structure with titanium suspension components and a Kevlar composite body.

It’s an “expressive, futuristic design which also displays innovative engineering solutions,” says Richard Farlazzo, Holden’s design director. “Concepts are always meant to push the boundaries but are even more impactful when they are feasible and this concept is plausible as an advanced racer of the future.”

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But the point isn’t this ridiculous vehicle, it’s the future of concept cars in general. Australia, like the US, is coming into a motor show vacuum and that doesn’t really leave much space for designers to show off what they’re thinking about and get attention in the same way anymore.

“The cessation of motor shows in Australia left a hole in our automotive culture in some ways and we lost a forum to showcase our passion and creativity to the Australian public with physical concept cars,” says Ferlazzo. “The technology we employ today has transformed the way we design cars. We have the ability to simulate a car’s appearance, technology and dynamics in convincing animations, which enables us to deliver better designs in a shorter time. A large part of our work is Advanced Design and we use this technology to develop concept designs for our parent company, General Motors. This concept is a digital advertisement for the advanced skills, capability and technology of the GM Holden team”.